I'm increasingly getting confident that government-owned companies are very important - even if these operate less efficiently than private firms [COMPACTIDEA]

• Looking at USA of today, it becomes clear that large, state-owned companies are important in every sector of every country's economy. USA is now a poisoned state that's practically run by greedy corporations. The concept of state-run companies doesn't exist [think of airlines, banks, etc., in America]. Overt and covert/tacit collusion keeps happening, and citizens are looted all the time, many times without they even realizing it.
• Think of India and its state-run behemoths in crucial industrial sectors - State Bank of India [SBI], Air India, Life Insurance Corporation of India [LIC], Steel Authority of India [SAIL], Bharat Heavy Electricals [BHEL], India Post, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited [HAL], National Fertilizers Limited [NFL], Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited [BSNL], and dozens others.
• These giant PSUs play the most important role of keeping private companies' actions in check. If not for these PSUs, private companies would literally milk the last drop of blood of India's citizens [imagine the sky-high charges Airtel would be able to charge for broadband if there was no BSNL to keep it in check].

Indian government shouldn't privatize these state-run enterprises in the name of "economic reforms", even if these are less efficient than private firms. They allow citizens to procure goods and services at honest prices.